The Taboocurse is a powerful spell which designates a word as a key to revealing the speaker's location. As such, it works in a similar manner to the Trace spell, but rather than being triggered when any magic at all is used, it is triggered by the utterance of a specific word. It works regardless of the age of the speaker and disables some weaker protective magical enchantments. If the speaker is in a building protected by the powerful Fidelius Charm, for example, it may reveal the general area around the speaker's house, but will not break the charm. This curse controls individuals by limiting their freedom to speak, and thus causes great stress, terror, and frustration. Because of this, it may be considered to be Dark magic.

Contents

Use in the First Wizarding War

Some have theorised that the practise of saying "You-Know-Who" instead of Voldemort's proper name might have began when he used a Taboo on his name during the First Wizarding War. This is unlikely, because Dumbledore encouraged people to use the proper name Voldemort so as to not fear the name. He would not have encouraged this if saying the Dark Lord's name would have endangered people. The Taboo's use during the Second Wizarding War seems to have been novel. It was particularly effective in capturing members of the Order of the Phoenix, as well as the D.A. The practise of saying "You-Know-Who" instead of Voldemort is most likely caused by memories of the extreme fear and panic hearing his name would inspire, and a desire to avoid arousing those bad memories.

Use in the Second Wizarding War

Implementation

Ron: "...the name's been jinxed, Harry, that's how they track people! Using his name breaks protective enchantments, it causes some kind of magical disturbance -- it's how they found us in Tottenham Court Road!"

Ron: "Exactly! You've got to give them credit, it makes sense. It was only people who were serious about standing up to him, like Dumbledore, who even dared use it. Now they've put a Taboo on it, anyone who says it is trackable -- quick-and-easy way to find Order members!"

According to Ronald Weasley, Snatchers put a Taboo on the word Voldemort. That theory was proved in two scenarios, in the diner on Tottenham Court Road when the trio were talking about Voldemort, Harry triggered the Taboo and two men (disguised as construction workers) walked in and the fight broke out. The second scenario is when Harry triggers the Taboo despite Ron's warning. Sometime after seizing indirect control of the Ministry of Magic in 1997, Voldemort made his own name Taboo. Thus, whenever his name was spoken aloud, Death Eaters and Snatchers were alerted as to the location of the speaker. Since the only individuals who dared speak Voldemort's name were members of the Order of the Phoenix or their allies, the Taboo allowed Voldemort's followers to track down their enemies.[1] Anyone who dares to speak the name and break the Taboo will be convicted and hunted down as criminals. Harry Potter broke the Taboo curse twice in the hunt for Voldemort's horcruxes, as well as Kingsley Shacklebolt, who accidently broke the Taboo and had to fight off several Death Eaters before going on the run.

The anti-Voldemort radio programme Potterwatch, which was run by Order members and sympathisers, took to referring to Voldemort as "Chief Death Eater" as one of their methods of avoiding detection.[2]

It is also possible that Voldemort invented the Taboo curse, as it seemed that no one was aware how his Death Eaters were able to track people who spoke Voldemort's name.

Possible triggers

Defence against the Taboo

The Taboo, when triggered can break normal defensive enchantments (invisibility, etc.) such as when Harry, Hermione, and Ron were captured by the Snatchers. However, when inside the protection of very powerful enchantments such as the Fidelius Charm, the protection seems to remain unchanged. This may be why the trio were protected at 12 Grimmauld Place, even though they repeatedly used Lord Voldemort's name while hiding there in 1997, as whenever Harry looked outside the window, he could see Death Eaters lurking around the place. So it can be made sure that the Taboo does not break a Fidelius Charm, but directs the person to near the location, if the person does not know the address or is Secret Keeper.